Winners of the Quebec Writing Competition now also announced at Literary Awards Gala
[Montreal. October 16, 2009] The Quebec Writers’ Federation is proud to announce the shortlist for the 2009 QWF Literary Awards. With a combined value of $12,000, these six awards will be announced at a special gala ceremony hosted by author and broadcaster Stanley Péan, president of l’Union des écrivaines et écrivains québécois (UNEQ), on Tuesday, November 17 at Le Lion d’Or.
“Stanley Péan is a major cultural presence in Quebec, having published more than twenty books – fiction, non-fiction, works for young adults – as well as being a translator, screenwriter, and broadcaster. It’s an honour for us to have him lend his considerable talents to the hosting of our Gala,” said Elise Moser, president of the Quebec Writers’ Federation. “But beyond that, it’s a wonderful instance of collaboration between our two linguistic communities. As Quebec writers, we live and create in this multicultural milieu, and Stanley’s participation in our Gala is a vivid example of our constant cultural complicity.”
This year’s Translation Prize honours work that is translated from French to English. Nominated this year are former winners, Lazer Lederhendler for his translation of Nicolas Dickner’s Nikolski (Knopf Canada), and the team of Fred A. Reed and David Homel for Wildlives(Douglas & McIntyre), a translation of Monique Proulx’s Champagne that has also snagged them a Governor General’s Literary Award nomination.The third finalist is Susanne de Lotbinière-Harwood for Fences in Breathing (Coach House Books), her translation of Nicole Brossard’s La Capture du sombre (Leméac Éditeur).
The annual prize was created in 2008 to foster and reward local writers.With a value of $250, the carte blanche Quebec Prize will be awarded at the 2009 gala to the author of the year’s best submission by a Quebec writer, as determined by the publication’s editorial board.
Quebec Writing Competition Joins the Celebration
Also new this year, the winners of the Quebec Writing Competition will be announced at the QWF Literary Awards Gala. A joint partnership between the QWF, CBC Radio One, Maisonneuve magazine and Véhicule Press, the Quebec Writing Competition puts original unpublished work by Quebec writers in the spotlight. The three prizewinners, as well as ten honourable mentions, will be announced by a CBC Radio One host at the Gala.
The winner of the honorary QWF Community Award will be announced in the coming weeks. The winners of the six $2,000 book prizes will be announced at the annual QWF Literary Awards Gala at the Lion d’Or(1676 Ontario E.) on Tuesday, November 17 at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $15 ($10 for full-time students with ID) and will be available soon at the following bookstores: Argo Books, Babar en ville, Bibliophile, Clio Bookstore, Paragraphe Bookstore, and The Word. Tickets are also available at the QWF office and at the door (space permitting). For ticket information, call (514) 933-0878.
More information about the shortlisted authors, as well as photos and book summaries, are online at the QWF Literary Database,http://quebecbooks.qwf.org.
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Christopher DiRaddo
(514) 842-5087
mobile: (514) 806-5087
